CAVALIERS WHS MEDIA CLASSES ATTEND CAVS MEDIA DAY

BY MALLORY GERSCHUTZ AND NOELLE ALLEN

Students from the Bruin and the Media Communications compact were invited to participate in the Cleveland Cavaliers Media Day. The event consisted of interviews with professional panelists, a tour of the media department, and a behind the scenes look of the Cavalier’s production.

The goal of the Cavs Department was to begin an annual event where students from local media could experience their skills being utilized in the “real world.”

The Cavs Media Department personnel reached out to a number of schools within the district which offer either journalism or media classes, including WHS, Hudson, Avon Lake, and others. The Bruin class and Media Communications Compact were invited to the event in order to gain insight on how media and journalism work in a professional setting.

Mr. Paul Taylor teaches the WHS Media Communications compact. This is a program in which students learn how to create online videos and other aspects of media professionally. His goal was to give his students a fun day with exposure to the career aspects of what they learn in class every day.

“They’ve been working really hard all year, so it’s kind of a good way for them to unwind and have fun,” Taylor said.

The panelists at the event included Ryan Banks, the Senior Director of Broadcast Services, Jimmy Longo, the Digital Content Producer, Matthew Eck, the Executive Producer & Sr. Director of Live Entertainment, and Joran Van Dootingh, the Senior Manager of Corporate Communications.

“They were very open, they all introduced themselves, talked about their job, gave a little anecdote about getting into the industry, and took questions,” Taylor said.

Students were given the opportunity to ask any question they had about the industry, from what the panelists do in a day to how they kicked off their careers. Cale Bruers, media communications student at WHS, asked Rafael Hernandez, Brito-Bilingual Announcer, for some tips on live broadcasting.

“Rafa gave me some really good advice about keeping calm during a live broadcast, which we are planning to do for the announcements in a few weeks,” Bruers said.

Following the personnel interviews, each group was toured around the department. The tour included a behind the scenes look at the Cavs Media room, the studios in which they host live television and radio broadcasts, and the personnel who commentate and produce these shows.

The day concluded with both classes attending the Cavaliers vs. Spurs game. Students were able to see everything they had previously learned brought to life in the stadium.

“I was watching the game and just thinking that all this work has to go on behind the scenes to broadcast it and all these people to be able to watch it at home,“ said Lizzy Edwards, junior staff writer on the Bruin.

This opportunity inspired WHS students in many ways, as they experienced how their skills are utilized in the real world.

“These people are really similar to us and what we do in class everyday, just on a larger scale,” Bruers said, “Seeing people getting paid for doing what they love would definitely drive people to want to pursue [this career] even more.

Taylor and Eric Heffinger, advisor of the Bruin, hope to continue taking trips like this, to give their students an enjoyable learning experience and spark their interest in potential